Singam Movie Review
Cop stories doesn't necessarily mean the hero bashing goons, mouthing punch dialogue or standing stiff. The cop can be simple, straight forward and still accomplish his mission.
Filmmaker Hari and actor Suriya, who come together after 'Aaru' and 'Vel', have laced ‘Singam’, Suriya’s 25th movie, with such events that sustain the attention of masses all through. Both have a major responsibility on their shoulders as their earlier cop stories ('Samy' and 'Kaakha Kaakha' respectively) did raise the bar in Kollywood. 'Singam', which sounds a masculine title, is a pukka commercial entertainer.
Though the story may sound similar to many mass masala movies before, Hari's pacy treatment to the screenplay and Suriya's screen presence gives necessary pep.
A collage of action, song, romance and comedy at right mix has always been a safe bet. With Suriya at the helm of affairs, the commercial cocktail straightaway sticks to our heart. The movie comes with a huge star cast as in any of the Hari film before.
Besides Suriya, it has Anushka, Vivek, Prakash Raj, Nasser, Sumitha, Manorama, Vijayakumar, Bose Venkat and ‘Nizhalgal’ Ravi to name a few in the cast.
The movie tells the tale of a simple and sincere police officer Duraisingam alias Singam (Suriya), a sub inspector in Nallur in Tuticorin district. He wants to run the family business - running a provision shop and convert it to a huge departmental store. But his father (Radha Ravi) fantasizes him to become a cop. He lives up to his father's words and becomes a sub-inspector in the local police station.
An amiable family, Singam lives at peace with everyone. Obviously their family is respected a lot in the village. Enters Kavya (Anushka), on a vacation to the village to her grandparents’ house. She comes across Singam and his upright manner and righteous nature attracts her. It’s romance between them.
There is ‘Eatu’ Erimalai (Vivek), who works as a head constable in the police station. Fate now enters in the form of Mayilvaganan (Prakash Raj), a dreaded baddie in Chennai who is into evil acts to make money. He is aided by his brother Vaikundan (Aadhi). He bumps off an old man in Nallur village when he denies parting with money demanded by him.
The old man was constructing a house in the village thanks to his sons’ money from abroad. His death has severe repercussions as his sons shoot a mail on the death to the embassy. This leaves in the arrest of Mayivaganan, who manages to get a conditional bail that he has to appear at Nallur police station and sign everyday.
Mayilvaganan comes face to face with Singam and his upright ways increases his wrath. He uses his might to get Singam promoted as inspector and brings him to Chennai. It's now a cat and mouse game between Singam and Mayilvaganan.
Singam comes across another side of Mayilvaganan - that he runs a kidnap racket and gets away with ransom. By bringing to books the nasty side of Mayilvaganan, the Home Minister (Vijayakumar) promotes him as ACP –Anti Corruption Squad operations. Meanwhile Singam's chase begins. How he accomplishes his mission forms the climax to a movie that begins in Nallur, (TN) and ends in Nellore, (AP).
Its out-and-out Suiriya show. He plays a cop who is in total contrast to Anbu Selvan in 'Kaakha Kaakha'. If Anbu was stiff and serious, Singam is cool but furious. The latter is friendly and has strings in his culture. Suriya is flawless in his expressions and delivers his best body language.
Anushka is more than a regular heroine here. She romances with Suriya and got a few scenes to perform too. Prakash Raj is the scene-stealer back to do what he knows the best. He is menacing with his eyes and does a good role that he has done many a time before. Vivek as head constable evokes laughter.
Devi Sri Prasad's racy music is another highlight. His fast songs compliment the swift screenplay. Priyan's cinematography is cool and pleasant.
Due credit goes to Hari. The man in his 10th film has given a movie that has his stamp in the form of an entertaining and engrossing screenplay. Unlike his earlier films where there would be wild chase and men all over with aruvals, 'Singam' comes with a difference.
Produced by Gnanavel Raja and presented by Sun Pictures, 'Singam' is the king of the masses, who love action and commercial films
It’s really been a very long time that our movie buffs enjoyed watching a good film. With most of this year’s releases turning to be mere disappointments, Surya’s Singam stands out as a mind-boggling entertainer
. Aye! The duo Surya-Hari makes it on for a successful hat trick with Singam as the film proves to be an excellent showpiece
To be precise, you wouldn’t actually agonize that you have spent 2.5hrs keeping an eye on this film. Hari has penned such a screenplay, which has the right mix of action, fun, frolic, emotions and romance. Surya doesn’t try to touch the lines of typical mass heroes by uttering loud punch dialogues and bashing down hundreds of men at the same time. Of course, there are more action sequences that have logical factors and are sure to win your appreciations.
Set in the backdrop of Nellore, a small town, the film revolves around inspector Durai Singam (Surya), who joined the service incisively because of his father’s wish. He settles every dispute in town patiently with his gentle talks. Then comes Kavya (Anushka), a city girl on vacation who promptly falls in love with him. Everything seems to be marked by good fortune until Mayil Vaaganam (Prakash Raj) comes across Durai Singam. As they lock horns, things take a different turn with second half keeping everyone on the edge-of-seats.
Kudos to director Hari for churning out such a successful commercial entertainer, he has overshadowed all his previous records with this film. Doubtlessly, Singam can be adjudged as a better show than his yesteryear film Saamy for its interesting plot prevailing all throughout the show. Although, it nearly takes an hour to establish the characters and the conflicts, the voltage peak after intermission trivializes such minuses.
On performance levels, Surya is outstanding with his flawless performance. Even during scenes, where he hops up and down doing goofy stunts, things turn out to be incredulously good. That’s all because of his charismatic appeal. His proficiency to emote with the right feel gains him more acceptance as a mass hero.
Well for Anushka, it’s the best film as she gets more footage. Thanks to Hari, for utilizing her potential to a greater magnitude unlike other filmmakers, who just sign her for glamorous attributes. Vivek’s comedy tracks are really enjoyable but can be better if he avoids his double-entendres. It’s obvious that he has been coming up with similar shows from his previous films. Radha Ravi, Nasser and Manorama have played their roles well. Prakash Raj is simply outstanding as he gets a powerful role to perform after his magnum opus Ghilli. For sure, this will be one of the greatest milestones in his career.
Just watch out for his performance during the penultimate sequences and while playing the fool with Surya on the chase, he is just superb. Devi Sri Prasad strikes with pleasing melodies as almost all the songs have been tuned out well. Especially, the numbers ‘Kadhal Vandhale’ and ‘En Idhayam’ wins hands down.
Cinematography and editing have been put to use with the best results as these technical arenas add momentum to the screenplay. Hari deserves a special mention for establishing brilliant characters as even the minor roles have their importance. Hats off to production designers as they have perfectly managed to complete such a brilliant film within such a short span of time, Avoidance of unnecessary expenses makes the film look sleek which is commendable.
ingam is sure to be one of the best top-drawers of 2010 and the producers will surely be elated as it brings them profits to unexpected levels.
Banner: Sun Pictures, Studio Green, Big Pictures
Production: K.E. Gnyanavel Rajan, Kalanidhi Maaran
Direction: Hari
Casts: Surya, Anushka, Prakash Raj, Vivek, Nasser, Manorama, Vijayakumar and others
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Verdict: Excellent piece of work
Movie Review: If you are one of those who is worried that this film will be too much like ‘Saamy’ or too close to ‘Khakha Khakha’, the film in which Suriya stumped movie goers with mind blowing cop presence, rest assured, your fears are unfounded. ‘Singam’ manages to stand apart.
However, if you are gonna go, "Everyone listen, he’s on a mission" (a line in one of the songs in ‘Singam’), you are only partially right. You see, it takes a while for Duraisingam ( Suriya) to get there, although once he does, it is paisa vasool for you.
It is Suriya who makes it worth the wait, until the story warms up, although to be fair, Hari keeps a tight rein on the screenplay throughout. Duraisingam is comfortable nabbing thieves who escape with temple jewels or settling petty disputes and playing cop to his relatives in Nallur village in Thoothukudi, although he would rather scale up his father’s (played by Radha Ravi) ‘maligai kadai’ to a departmental store. He has no burning ambition in him to change the world or prove himself. Until two people cross his life.
One is Kavya (Anushka) daughter of Mahalingam (Nasser), a rich cycle tycoon. The other is Mayilvahanam (Prakash Raj), a racketeer who turns out to be involved in holding children for ransom. By the time Singam stumbles upon that, however, he and Mayil have gone around a few rounds. How Mayil removes Singam from the protective comfort of Nallur and transports him to his ‘area’ Thiruvanmiyur in Chennai , for the inevitable climax is what the second half is all about.
This is far racier compared to the first, and although you wonder why Suriya has been given such dud steps in ‘en idhayam’, the other duet, ‘kadhal vandhale’ makes up for it. Do we see shades of Vijay and
Simran in some of the moves in this number? Surely Hari is not spoofing here? Or music director Devi Sri Prasad? The songs ring a bell, if you know what I mean. Anushka passes muster, and you have seen better reel chemistry between Suriya and his heroines in the past. If you find out why Prakash Raj is so off-colour, do let us know. Vivekh as constable Erimalai is good in parts.
When it’s a Hari film, you know what to expect when you walk into the theatre— a chess board hero who is all white, while the villain is totally black, no half measures for you. Even with a sleepy narration in the first 30 minutes or so , ‘Singam’ is worth a watch.
he much-awaited Hari-Suriya combo is back in this landmark 25th film of Suriya. The story was initially narrated to Vijay for his 50th film by Hari but for some reasons Vijay could not do it and Suriya lapped it up.Throughout the career graph of Suriya, the actor has diligently worked towards balancing the niche and the mass and this time around he has proven once again that he can deliver a commercial masala flick with as finesse as he can deliver a performance-orientedfilm.
It is Suriya all over; the guy stumps with some gravity defying stunts, mouths a few intense sentimental dialogues, floors his lady partner passionately and challenges the baddies and cleanses the society from obnoxious elements.Durai Singam is the SI of Nallur police station who is into the police force mainly to satisfy his father. His ambition is to expand his provision stores business to a super market.
All the same, he is sincere in his work and is the darling of his town as he settles many disputes in his town amicably. Mayilvaganan (Prakash Raj), the fraudster from Chennai, involved in criminal activities, gets trapped into a police case which requires him to sign in Nallurpolice station for a period of 15 days. There is a proxy who comes to do this job in the police station which triggers an encounter between Prakash Raj and Suriya that leads into a series of events between the two which form the rest of Singam.
Meanwhile, an offshoot of this plot is the love angle between Anushka and Suriya, the former comes to the village to her grand parents place for vacation and bumps in to the latter. Thankfully, it is not love at the second meeting but something that happens gradually with believable events. Vivek as Erimalai takes charge of comedy in Singam as Suriya’s subordinate and acquits himself well. The comedy scenes do bring the intended effect and the lorry scene which results in Vivek’s suspension tops the list. There are many such enjoyable instances which are sure to get into the comedy channels soon.Anushka looks good and acts too.
When she is on the phone with Suriya and gets caught by her father Nasser, the instant play of expression to get out of the situation is noteworthy. The lady does have a good future. She rides on twin horses with glamorous costumes in the song sequences and a homely demeanor in the rest of thefilm . Radha Ravi and Sumithra as the parents of Suriya do a convincing job. The other supporting cast members are satisfactory. Music by Devi Sri Prasad is nothing to rave about except the En Idhayam number. However, the morphing technique adopted to cover a few frames in this number is unwarranted. Background score is also ordinary. True to the name Singam, thefilm is dominated by action sequences but there is no blood and gore. Cinematographer Priyan has done a decent job. Director Hari has stuck to his genre and has delivered a crispfilm . Although the events and the premise are not something new in Singam and the formula of one scene each of ‘action-romance-sentiments-comedy’, is strictly adhered to, he should be credited for rendering an engaging and entertaining product. He succeeds in holding the interest of the audience to a larger extent and satisfies the viewers. However, in the second half, the interactions between the villain and hero get a bit drab and seem to drag on.
There is not much of an intelligence displayed by the villain to counter the hero except in the climax. On the whole, Hari has concocted and packaged his masala contents in the right proportion and has served a tasty dish.
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